Apparatus for mixing fertilizers, &amp;c.



.Paten'ted lune 26, |900. A. MUSCIACCU.

APPARATUS FUR MIXING FERTILIZERS, &c.

(Application lad May 20, 1899.)

4 Sheets-Sheet l.

(no Model.)

N5.' 65,285. Patented lune 26, |900. A. MUSCIAGCO. APPARATUS FOR MIXING FERTILIZERS, &e.

` (Application led May 20, 1899.) (no Model.) 4 sheets-sheet 2.

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No. 652,285. Patnted June 26, |900. A. MUSCIACCO.

`APPARATUS FOR MIXING FERTILIZERS, &c.

(Application led May 20, 1899.) (NoModel.) 1 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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APPARATUS FOR MIXING FERTILIZEHS, &c.

(Application filed May 20, 1899.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model o.. wumuurau D c vessels 2 which is outermost. have theirbottoms 3, which are caused to rei volve on their pivots tin the direction of the 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTO MUSCIAOCO, OF BRINDISI, ITALY.

APPARATUS FOR MIXING FERTILIZERS, sbo.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 652,285, dated June` 26, 1900.

Application filed May 20, 1899. Serial No. 717,619. (No model.)

T0 cl/ZZ whom it' may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUsro MU'scIAcoo, residing at Brindisi, in the Province of Lecce, Italy, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for IProportioning and Mixing Powders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as vwill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

My invention relates to machines or apparatus for proportioning and mixing powders and other similar substances; and it consists,

substantially, in such features of improvement as will hereinafter be more particularly described. l y The form of machine shown in the accompanying drawings is one in whichrfour different kinds or descriptions of powders are to be mixed together in predetermined proportions, variable according to the will of the operator, and is specially designed for the manufacture of manures; but the number oit' powders to be dosed and mixed, as well as the number and size of the vessels containing them, may vary according to the requirements of the special art for which the apparatus is intended.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a general plan of the apparatus, the wooden platforms 1, from which the vessels 2 are charged, being partly removed. Fig. 2 is a section on line A B, Fig- 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the apparatus, the upper part being a section on line C D, Fig. 1, wherein some internal parts are removed to show other parts, which would be hidden thereby. Figs. 4E to 10 are details which will be hereinafter described.

Similar letters denote like parts throughout.

The powders to be dosed and mixed are charged into that one ot' the chambers of the arrows, Fig. 1, by means of the bevel-wheel rims andthe bevel-pinions 6. The chamber 7 of the vessels 2, into which the powders are charged, is divided from the chamber 8, to which said powders are conveyed by the motion of the revolving bottoms 3, by means of a partition consisting of two movable walls 9 and The vessels 2 3 10, Fig. 3, left side, one of which-namely, 9-` I will hereinafter call the partition proper, `while the other-namely, lO-will be called `the blade The said movable walls are so suspended and adjustable with reference to the movable bottoms 3 that an opening 11 of varying height is formed at will between the upper surfaces of said bottoms and the lower edges of said walls, and through which opening the material is conveyed by the bottoms from one chamber to the other of the vessels `2. The material in each vessel is delivered `to a conveyer in the second compartment of each vessel, and said conveyers empty into a single hopper common to them all. The direction of the movement of the bottoms 3 is such as to cause Ithe powders or other loose materials to pass from chamber 7 into chamber 8 through the right side of the opening 11, Figs. 2 and 3, whose upper side is formed by the lower edge of partition 9. enable the attendant to proportion the quanitity of each of the different powders to be mixed according to the requirements, the height of the right side of opening 11 is to be made variable. connected with the arm 12 (see Fig. 2, right side, and Fig. 7, which is an enlarged detail -of the same) and mounted loosely on crankshaft 13, turning upon the journals 14, mounted in the sides of the vessel 2. By turning the screw 15 the crank-shaft 13 is caused to turn upon the journals 14, as shown in dot- Eted lines at Fig. 7, and the height of the opening 11 is varied accordingly. 'lhe screws 15 work in nuts 15, held or supported by brackets 151 on the side of the Vessels. The `height of the opening 11 at a given moment may be read on a graduated scale 16, Fig. 2, fixed on the outside Wall of each of the vessels 2. For certain descriptions of powders which are liable to clod it is extremely iinportant to avoid their sticking to the rear face of partition 9. The lower end of this partition rests, therefore, on a curved elastic ruler 17, pivoted at 18, Fig. 3, (see also Fig. 2, right side, and plan, Fig. 10,) and fitted with a projecting nose 19, to which an oscillatory movement is imparted'by a ratchet- To such end partition 9 is In order to ICO pinion 20, entering a recess 21, provided for i each revolution of said bottom a shock is imparted by the pinion 2O to the oscillating rod 17 and by this to the lower extremity of the partition 9, which latter is momentarily caused to swing around on the crank-shaft 13, and by this swinging motion any matter clogging to the said partition is at once detached therefrom. The part of the contents of the vessels which may possibly escape through the joint 22 between the stationary' cylindrical wall and the flat revolving bottom falls through the holes 23 into the casing 24, situated beneath. The brush 25, partaking of the motion of bottom 3, sweeps the matter which has collected into the casing 24 toward the opening 2G, wherefrom it falls into bags arranged underneath.

In order that the apparatus may work regularly andgive good results as far as the propcrtioning of the powders or other materials is concerned, the -level of the powders contained in the vessels is never to be allowed to sink beyond a certain minimum height. This is attained by means of the blade 10, attached to the inner edge of the partition 9 and situated above the left side of opening 1l, Fig. 3. The blade l0 is adjustably connected with the arm 27, carrying a bell 30, mountedon the outside wall of vessel 2, said arm being provided with a controllable weight 29 and being loosely mounted, together with the blade 10, on the crank-shaft 13, substatitially in line with and parallel to the partition 9. (See Fig. 3, Fig. 2, left side, Fig. 4, which is an enlarged detail thereof, and Fig. 5, which is a plan of Fig. 4.) As soon as the level of the powder within chamber 7 sinks beyond a certain minimum, and which renders -the pressure exerted against the rear face of the blade 10 insuiiicient to balance the weight of arm 27 and parts connected therewith, the blade 10 swings inthe direction of t-he arrow, Fig. 2, and arm 27 strikes against the disk 28, whereupon the ringing of bell 30.ensues, giving the attendant the necessary warning as to the vessel 2 being almost empty.

A cloth packing 3l is provided between the partition 9 and blade 10 to make the joint along line 32 32, Fig. 3, a tight one, and a strip of cloth 33, attached both to the edges of the platforms 1 and the upper edges of partitions 9 and blade 10, prevents impurities from falling into the vessels 2 when they are being charged from the said plat-forms. The powder conveyed to the openings 11 by 'the revolution of the vessel-bottoms 3 is as soon as it enters chamber 8 taken up by the Archimedean screws 34, which convey the material coming in different quantities from the four vessels 2 to the central hopper 35. No clogging of the powders on the surface of the screws 34 can take place, as the same is swept out all around by the endless chains 36, (see an enlarged detail, Fig. 6,) which are kept in motion by the screws themselves. Said chains are provided with sprocket-s, as

.tween the same.

shown, which enter the spaces between the blades of the screws, and the material is prevented from adhering to the surfaces o f the screws in an obvious manner.

Those among the conveying-screws 34 which receive from the vessels 2 such descriptions of powdersv as are especially liable to clod are fitted with an arrangement intended to pulverize such clods before their falling into the hopper 35. An arrangement for this purpose is shown, by way of example', on the left side of Fig. 1. (See also detail Fig. 8, which is a Section on the 'line E F, Fig. l.) The link 37, pivoted at 38, by its oscillation imparts a to-and-fro motion to the flat rod 40 connected thereto at 41, Fig. 1.

Two cutters 42 42, sliding on the front face of the screw-casing 43 and connected to rod 40 by means of pivots 44 and swinging back and forth around the axis 45 of the screw 34, (see Fig. 8,) destroy or break up the clods which might reach the inner end of the screwcasng. An oscillatory motion is also imparted to the hopper 35 by the link 46, pivotally connected thereto at point 47, thereby further loosening up the material and preventing any part of the clods from falling into the mixing apparatus proper.

The mixing apparatus consists of a case 48, inclosing two rapidly-rotating Vertical wooden shafts 49 60, each of which is tted from one end to the other with several sets 50 5l 52 53 v54 55 56 57 58 59 6162 63 64 65 66 6768 G9 y of radially-projecting horizontal arms almost as long as the distance between the two shafts, each of said sets having its radial arms shifted with reference to the other, as shown in Fig. 9, which is a plan of shaft 49, and the sets of radial arms projecting from shaft 60 being shifted in the vertical direction with reference to those projecting from shaft 49, and therefore entering the spaces be- The powders falling from hopper 35 into casing 48 are most perfectly mixed by falling on the arms above described. When they reach the base of the apparatus, they are collected into bags provided at its base.

The arrangement of shafting and gearing ICO IIO

by which the several parts are driven is clearly shown by the drawings and needs no description. It will be understood that the speed of each part must be adjusted according to the different proportions in which the mixing of the powders is to take place or, in other words, to the several heights of the opening 11, through which the powders pass from one chamber to the other, a set of exchange wheels and pulleys being provided to l. In a machine of the character described, a vessel divided into two compartments, means for carrying the material from one compartment into the other, a screw conveyer for conveying the material from the second compartment, and means for preventing clogging of said conveyer by the material.

2. In a machine of the character described, a vessel divided into two compartments, means for carrying the material from one compartment to the other7 a screw conveyer for conveying the material from the second compartment, and movable devices entering the spaces between the blades ofthe conveyer, and operated by the latter to remove adhering material from the surface of said conveyer.

3. In a machine of the character described, a vessel divided into two compartments, means for carrying the material from one compartment to the other, a screw conveyer for conveying the material from the second compartment, and an endless chain having sprockets entering t-he spaces between the blades of such conveyer.

4. In a machine ofthe character described, a vessel having a rotatable bottom, a partition dividing the vessel into two compartments, means for varying the distance between the lower edge of said partition and the said rotatable bottom, entirely closing the lower end thereof, and a conveyer in one of the compartments.

5. In a machine of the characterdescribed, a vessel, an adjustable partition dividing the same into two compartments, means for carrying the material from one compartment to the other, means for imparting an intermittent oscillating motion tothe partition, and means for conveying the material from the second compartment.

6. In a machine of the character described, a vessel having a rotatable bottom, an adjustable partition dividing the vessel into two compartments, means for imparting an oscillating motion to said partition, and aA conveyer in one of the compartments.

7. In a machine of the character described, a vessel having a rotatable bottom, a partition dividing the vessel into two compartments, said partition being in two parts, means for varying the distance between the lower edge of one part and the rotatable bottom, a counter-pressure device operating on the other part, a signal or alarm operated on release of said counter-pressure device, and a conveyer in one ot' the compartments.

8. In a machine of the character described, a vessel divided into two compartments, means for carrying the material from one compartment to the other, a conveyer for conveying the material from the second com partment, and means for cutting up or loosening the material as it leaves the conveyer.

9. In a machine of the character described, a vessel, a rotatable bottom therefor, a vertical movable partition dividing the vessel into two compartments, a screw for raising and lowering the lower end of said partition, and a conveyer in one of the compartments.

l0. In a machine of the character described, the combination of the partition, 9, the elastic strip, 7, the ratchet, 20, and means for rotating the latter.

ll. In a machine of the character described, a vessel divided into two compartmentsmieans for carrying the material from one compartment tothe other, a conveyer for conveying the material from the second compartment, and a swinging blade or cutter located at the outer end of the conveyer.

l2. In amachine of the character described, a plurality of vessels each divided into two compartments, a rotatable bottom for each vessel closing both compartments thereof,and carrying the material from one compartment of the vessel to the other7 means for conveying the material from each of the second compartments, a receiving-hopper common to all of said conveyers, and a mixing apparatus into which the hopper empties.

13. In a machine ot the character described, a plurality of vessels disposed in horizontal arrangement, and each divided into two compartments, means in each vessel for carrying the material from one compartment to the other, means for conveying the material from each of the second compartments, means for chopping or loosening up the material as it leaves the second compartments, a receivinghopper common to all of the conveyers, and a mixing apparatus into which the hopper empties.

14. In a machine of the character described, a plurality of vessels each divided into two compartments, a rotatable bottom for each vessel closing both compartments thereof,and carrying the material from one compartment of the vessel to the other, means for conveying the material from each ol" the second compartments, a receiving-hopper common to all of said conveyers,means for impartinga shaking motion to the hopper, and a mixing apparatus into which the hopper empties.

l5. In a machine of the characterdescribed, a plurality of vessels disposed in horizontal arrangement, and each divided into two compartments, means in each vessel for carrying the material from one compartment to the other, means for conveying the material from each of the second compartments, a receiving-hopper common to all of the conveyers, and a mixing apparatus into which the hopper empties, the same consisting of a casing provided with vertical shafts having radial arms, the arms of one set passing through the spaces between the arms of the other set.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUSTG MUSCIAGCQ.

Witnesses:

VIRGINIO OARNEVALI, MICHELEOR BRAeEs.

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